A rare first edition comic that was the earliest to feature Superman has sold for a record $2.2million (£ 1.4million).

The pristine copy of Action Comics from June 1938 shows the superhero lifting up a car on the front cover. Rated as being in mint condition, the sale was the first time a comic has broken the $2 million mark and is the biggest sum paid for a single issue.

Neither the name of the buyer nor seller in the online auction in the US was disclosed.

The issue cost 10 cents when it was published. Action Comics was later renamed DC Comics, also published Batman and Wonder Woman.

Stephen Fishler, chief executive of ComicConnect.com, said: "When we broke the record in 2010 by selling the Action Comics No. 1 for $1.5 million, I truly believed that this was a record that would stand for many years to come."